Appeal No. 1997-4445
Application 08/305,076
It is easier to discuss Figure 1, which is the same as
Figure 3 except for the chopping interval td. In the
following analysis we employ our interpretation that the
first, second, and third exciting time periods in functions
(i), (ii), and (iii) do not have to be sequential because the
open-ended nature of the claims does not preclude other time
periods in between the ones recited. We also use our
interpretations that claims 6-8 are not limited to the
portions of the waveform which were intended.
With respect to claim 6, assuming the misdescriptiveness
problem was fixed: (i) the exciting current is increased to a
first predetermined value during a "first exciting time
period" ta; (ii) the exciting current is reduced to a second
predetermined value during a "second exciting time period" at
the end of ta when the substep signal is received (note that
it takes a finite amount of time for the exciting current to
drop at the end of time ta--this finding is consistent with
claim 7, function (iii) wherein the third exciting time period
refers to a similar vertical drop of short time duration at
the end of the first PWM cycle in Figure 6); and (iii) the
exciting current is reduced to zero during a third time period
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